Finding Happiness in Your Callings Ephesians 4:1 Rev. Min J. Chung (Lord s Day Service, December 9, 2018) Ephesians 4:1 Greeting 1 I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, Introduction Purpose is the reason why you do something. The purpose of life is the reason why you live. The reason for life used to be more objective. However, after watching current movies, I ve realized for this generation it s become more subjective. Now, purpose of life revolves around the word dream. The word dream is related to happiness. Which is why people are constantly saying, I want to do what makes me happy. However, the problem with living for happiness is that it can be easily taken away. If you want happiness to be your friend, happiness will be a fickle friend. Happiness will not be loyal to you. Any change of circumstance can rob you of your happiness. Even if you have your dream job, if you have a bad boss your happiness is gone. If you have a dream marriage, if your spouse or your child is sick, your happiness is gone. So, if your goal in your life is happiness, it s going to be tough. Not only will objective things change in your life changes, but subjectively our desires change. Nothing can keep giving us lasting happiness. The Biblical solution to this is our calling. We need to find happiness in our callings. There are five principles from this one verse, as well as the rest of the book of Ephesians, concerning our callings. I. You need to clarify some misconceptions about your callings Ephesians 4:1 says, I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in the manner this means you need to live according to what you have been called. A. Calling is mostly related to my vocation Your calling is related to your vocation; however, it is not exclusively about your vocation. B. Only full-time vocational ministers are called by God Yes, full time ministers must be called by God. However, every Christian is also called by God in different ways.
C. There is only one thing I am called to do in life Many people see their job or career as their single calling in life. However, as we ll see in the book of Ephesians, we are called to several things. Depending on what stage in life we are in our callings can change. D. God will always show in clear ways what I am called to do Some people think that God will reveal our callings to us in mystical ways: through audible or visible signs. While this is possible, it is rare. Most of the time we can discern our calling through logical decision-making processes with wisdom and conviction. E. If I am not enjoying what I am doing, then I am not doing what I am called to do This is probably the most prevalent misconception in this generation. Another way of thinking of this is, If I am doing what I am called to do, I will be happy. Calling here is based on the degree of happiness to show whether they are in the right place or doing the right thing. However, the problem with this line of thinking is that we have two kinds of desires. According to Galatians 5, our two desires contradict one another. Because we are pleasure seekers, we will never be completely happy because we cannot satisfy both desires at the same time. But, in the midst of our unhappiness, there will always be things in which we can find happiness in. Even within a dream job or dream marriage, there will be times of hardship and difficulty. But if you are in the right place, you need to learn how to go through these things and persevere. II. Your callings are part of the bigger plan of God Ephesians 4:1 says, I, therefore. There is a condition to what Paul does his life is guided by something. He doesn t simply do whatever he wants. The book of Ephesians is about the bigger redemptive story of what God is doing in this world. And we are a part of it. This is the outline of Ephesians: Ephesians 1-3 Ephesians 4-6 Christian doctrine Christian duty Who we are in Christ How we ought to live for Christ In Christ In Champaign-Urbana Called by God Called to the world
Called by God Ephesians 1:18 Within the book of Ephesians, calling is divided into two sections. Ephesians 1:18 talks about our first calling how we are called by God. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. Called to the world Ephesians 4:1 The second half of Ephesians starts by saying how we are called to the world. Ephesians 4:1 says, Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Chapters 4-6 concretely talk about how, in this world, we ought to live with calling. There is unity within all of our callings as we are all a part of a bigger picture of God. But there is also individuality of our callings as we are called to different things. What we do will affect others and what others do affect us as we live for Christ. This is why everyone is important and we need to pray for one another. We are not solo artists, but spiritual musicians that are a part of an orchestra. Together, we can play beautiful tunes of redemption to the world. III. You need to have conviction about your callings and live according to them Ephesians 4:1 To walk in the manner worthy to which you have been called to. Paul talked about unity in the first section of Ephesians, but in this second section he will start to talk about individuality. He even talks about his own specific calling. Ephesians 3:1-2 For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God s grace that was given to me for you, Paul considers his Roman imprisonment as his calling because he was called to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. In verse 2, Paul is saying he needs to be a good steward in his calling because he considered the calling of being imprisoned as God s grace. We need to be good stewards as well. In order to do that, we need to have a sense of what our calling is. What does it mean to have a sense of calling? If you woke up one morning and Jesus was in front of you and he told you, Go to class for me. Be faithful at work. Love your husband like I love you. Wouldn t we have a strong sense of calling and commitment to whatever Jesus tells us to do? Even if it may only last a couple days. We would do it because we love Jesus. And yet, Jesus does tell us to do things through the verses of the Bible. We have been called. In this life, happiness should not be our goal because it will come and go. As people who have two natures, we will never find complete happiness. Instead, look for present contentment. Learn
to be content in the midst of misery by being happy in the things that are given to you in Christ. Look for present contentment but look forward to eternal happiness because it s coming. Happiness in this world should be like an incidental result when we live for the glory of God, not our goal. While happiness is nice, it cannot make or break us because ultimate happiness is guaranteed in Jesus Christ. Not in this world, but the next. Have realistic expectations in this world while we have realistic faithfulness in our callings. IV. You must be moved by love in your callings Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, Paul was in prison for his calling and he was faithful in preaching the Gospel while in prison. Ephesians 3:1-2 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God s grace that was given to me for you, There is a difference between emotion and desire. To be moved by love in your calling does not mean you will necessarily have emotion or passion for it. There can be emotionless love because we have two natures. It says in the Bible that we must love our enemies. However, no one has positive emotions towards their enemies. We don t because of our sin nature. But there is another desire that exists that says to do it for Jesus, as Jesus has done onto us. In our sinful nature we receive pleasure in receiving what we want. But because of our spiritual nature there is also pleasure in giving to others what Christ has given to us. We need to be givers not getters. Though we may not gain anything, we need to be moved by the love of Christ to serve and love others. If you are called, you will be imprisoned to your calling. Just like how Paul was literally confined in prison because of his call to the Gentiles. Though we may be confined, Paul says how being called will free you because you are in love. Parenting is like this. As a parent, even if you were to have all the freedom in the world, you would choose to be in the imprisonment of parenting because you are in love with your children. You may not enjoy it all the time, but you are there because you are driven by love. That is what our calling ought to be. It does not necessarily mean having love for your calling but having love in your calling. When you start to have this kind of joy, you may not always love what you are doing but when you are trying to love somebody through those things, then you will always be doing what you love. There is a famous Canadian country artist named Shania Twain. When she was 22 years old, at the brink of her music career, her parents died in a car accident. As a result, she had to drop
everything to raise her young brother. Once her brother grew up, she was able to pursue a music career once more. Whenever she talks about caring for her brother, she has no regrets or bitterness. Her dream, happiness, and goal were music, yet she was loving in her calling to take care of her brother in that moment. V. You must understand the different callings in your life A. We are called to God as Christians Who we are There are three major callings in our lives. First, we are called to God as Christians; this is our identity. Ephesians 1:18 says, " which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints...". This calling is related to the inheritance we receive as children of God. With these blessings, we are also called to be a blessing to the word. We have the responsibility to be good stewards, like Paul mentions in Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3:1-2 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God s grace that was given to me for you, We receive this inheritance by grace through faith. The foundation and purpose of life as a Christians is to live for Christ, to glorify Him. This is our primary identity, but we also have different secondary identities as well. Our secondary identities may lay in our job, being a parent, or a spouse, etc. B. We are called to the world in our daily lives What we do We are called to concrete responsibilities to represent Christ in our daily lives. 1. We are called to our local church Ephesians 4:11-12 - 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, The body of Christ must be fully pictured. As we serve one another, we become stronger as one body. Ephesians 5:30 - because we are member of his body. Members here means body parts. We are called to a local church to empower one another to fully picture the body of Christ to the world. 2. We are called to our marriage and family Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. These different roles are to picture who God is. 3. We are called to our work/school Ephesians 6:5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, Ephesians 6:9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Work for your boss as you would for Christ. If you re a boss, treat employees as God treats you. There are four principles that will help you understand these three different aspects of calling better. -These are to be major calling arenas not exclusive calling arenas Church, family, and work are the most foundational callings in our lives and ought to be top priority. However, we have other callings outside of these. For example, in the Bible we called to be good citizens of the country we live in as well. The three primary calling written by Paul in Ephesians parallels to Genesis. Adam and Eve were called to these three arenas of life as well. Adam was called to marriage with Eve. Then they were to work and take care of the earth to picture what God is like as a master over the world. They were also the church of Jesus Christ. They were to fill the earth with people who will serve the Lord. However, sin entered the world and these three callings were hindered. The first Adam may have failed. But through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, these callings can be redeemed. -These callings can change in different phases of life It s not a requirement to be called to all three callings in life. Most will be called to two or all three in a given moment. If you are a young student, you are called to your family, your school, and to the local church. If you are single, you are called to primarily to work. If you don t have a job, you are called to just church. As a single person, you are called to honor your parents. However, your relationship and calling to your parents will differ from when you lived with them as a child. If you are married, it s likely you will
have all three callings. These callings can change depending on what phase of life you re in. Regardless of what stage of life we are in, the one calling that must stay consistent is our calling to the local church. Our calling to work and family must be prayerful decided. What job we decide to take, who we decide to marry, how many kids we decide to have. We have the power to choose within the guidelines of the Scripture for the maximum glory of God. -These callings are equally but differently important in our lives Church, family, work are all equally important in picturing the Gospel so we need to be careful to avoid the idolatry of having one calling more important than the others. They are equally, but differently important. Marriage and family are foundationally important. Family makes up society and the Church. If there is something wrong within the family, it hinders you from your other callings. If the family is foundationally important, then the church is spiritually important over our lives. And work is evangelistically important. Ephesians 6 teaches use how we ought to conduct as Christians within our workplaces, when we are surrounded by non-christians. It s not just limited to the workplace, but it is to be taken into the context of how we interact with the world in general as Christians. For example, we are commanded to work hard in our jobs as part of our calling. Our work ethic ought to be an exemplary principle that we can apply as we live out our lives. -These callings require us to be faithful in dynamic balance Dynamic balance does not mean equal time to each calling. The time and energy that you give to each calling will differ depending on your stage of life. Time management is necessary with wisdom. If you just start a job, you should be faithful to work and devote a lot of time to it. You may be unhappy when you first and may even question if you re in the right place. You are unhappy because you re not good at your job yet. However, it takes time to be good at anything. When you have young children, you will have to devote a lot of time to family. But as they grow older you may be able to devote yourself to other parts of your calling. For those who do not get married, your primary callings will be work and church. A lot of pressure is put on single people to get married. We falsely believe that without marriage we will not be happy, or we won t be able to fully serve the Lord. But that is false. Both Paul and Jesus were single. Marriage and family are simply one aspect in which we can glorify God. Single people can instead devote a lot of their time to producing spiritual children within the church. You can live maximally for God and find fulfillment in Him alone if you stop listening to the world. You have to find happiness in your present callings. C. We are called to specific contributions in life What we are born to do This phrase, what we are born to do is often used in reference when someone is doing what they ve dreamed of doing. However, I m referring to it as what we were called to
do. Often when people talk about callings, they re thinking about their specific occupation. Paul had three callings. He was called as a Christian, a missionary pastor, and lastly a missionary to the Gentiles specifically. I believe this last calling is what Paul was born to do. That is what God made him to be: a missionary to the Gentiles. For myself, I am called to be a pastor, a father, and a husband. But within these callings, I believe God has called me to help the leaders of the next generation rise. I didn t look for this or sense God telling me to do this. But within the past 20 years I discovered that naturally leaders came to me to help them rise up as leaders. I learned as I helped them that this is what I was born to do. Though we may not know specifically how, but God is using everyone specifically and in a special way. This aspect of your calling isn t something you need to actively search for, for it will find you. It may be different things in different phases in life. Often it may not be consciously realized in your life until you look back. I ll make a brief comment on how to discern if you are called to full time vocational ministry. In the Old Testament this was determined by heritage. You had to be born as a Levite or a family of priests. They were specifically chosen by God in that sense. Therefore, I believe in the New Testament, there is a similar principle of being called into full-time ministry. There are two principles you can apply to help discern if you feel like you are being called. 1 Timothy 3:1-2 1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, Verse 1 talks about a subjective confirmation. You must have a personal conviction; a subjective desire. Verse 2 talks about an objective confirmation. Other people are evaluating your life; spiritual leaders must be able to confirm your sense of being called into full time ministry. These two principles can apply when deciding your job/calling. There must be a subjective desire and an objective confirmation. If other people are against it, see it as a warning sign, a think through it again. We can remain faithful to what we are called to if we have a sense of calling and have daily dependence on God s grace. Conclusion
"Always be moved by calling. Marriage - don t be moved by feelings; be moved by calling. Job - don t be filling your pockets, but be moved by calling. Church - don t be moved by fulfilling, but be moved by calling. Only move for calling." Another quote that helps us to persevere, "One of the reasons why you need to persevere in one place until you are called to the next place is because you might not be ready for the next place yet. If you quit without persevering, you may not develop the character and skills which may be essential for you to be effective in the next place." You might not be happy, but God is trying to develop your character and skills. Never be moved by feelings, but by callings. Hebrews 12: 2 - Looking at Jesus the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. For Jesus, the cross was His calling and it was fully of misery. But there was joy not because of love for the calling but love in His calling. Like Jesus, we need to learn to find happiness in our callings so that we can be faithful until the end. We are just going to see a video: George Bush's funeral. People might think that I am trying to make a political statement, but I am not. If we talk about politics, I am talking about the biblical principles within certain issues because I am responsible to teach biblical principles. This video is not a matter of whether or not George Bush was a good president. It is about how he was faithful to his calling as a father. [video] After our life is done, what will our children say of us? May they say that we were faithful to our callings for Jesus.